


The Moon Speaks No Reply

by xreyskywalkersolo



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 11:09:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6077130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xreyskywalkersolo/pseuds/xreyskywalkersolo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leia thought her days of soothing fevers and watching over her child's bedside were gone. As usual, Rey has other ideas. Pointless fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Moon Speaks No Reply

Leia was going to have to add ‘Hand Poe Dameron his ass on a platter’ to her to-do list. Really, what in the name of the galaxy had he been thinking letting Rey roll around in the snow without a coat on?? If Leia hadn’t happened to hear the kids (they’re not kids, not really, but they’re _her_ kids, even if she’s never said that to their faces) whooping and hollering outside, Rey probably would have frozen to death. As it was, the general had stepped into the snow to see Finn and Poe pelting each other with snowballs while Rey, sans even a jacket, had been lying flat on her back making snow angels and staring up at the still-falling flakes with a grin that made Leia’s heart melt. As cute as the whole thing was, she’d sent all three of them inside to warm up, but less than an hour later, Rey started to display the telltale signs of an oncoming cold.

Which was how the famous Republic General found herself in a position she’d never dreamed of being in again.  
  
With a practiced hand and aching heart, Leia pressed a cool cloth to Rey’s forehead, murmuring incoherent soothing sounds as the girl shifted slightly and whimpered in her sleep. The fever wasn’t high, and Rey was in no danger, but Leia still had no intention of leaving her. She knew for a fact that the young scavenger-turned-Jedi had never had anyone to take care of her when she was sick or injured, and that wasn’t a trend that Leia cared to continue. So as long as Rey needed her here, here she would remain.  
  
Leia had never expected to find herself caring for her sick child again. God, she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d done this for Ben, before Luke took him and Snoke turned him. Her throat closed as she remembered how excited her little boy had been to become a Jedi like his uncle and how he’d promised to be the best the galaxy had ever known. That was the last time she and Han saw their son.

 _“But_ why _must you confront him?”_

_“Because there’s still good in him. I’ve felt it.”_

When Luke spoke those words to her so very many years before concerning his father— _their_ father—Leia thought for sure he must be insane. Darth Vader was an evil killer, a bastion of the Empire’s power; how could Luke ever hope to save him? But her brother had been right, and in the end, his faith in Anakin Skywalker had saved his life. Leia could only pray her own feelings about her son were as accurate. As hard as she tried, she was beginning to lose faith after what had happened to Han mere months ago….  
  
Oh god, don’t think about Han. Leia’s hands shook so badly she nearly dropped the cloth as she tried to block the memory that was now assaulting her, her heart beating painfully beneath her ribs. Don’t think about it, don’t remember, don’t feel the pain that nearly ripped your chest in two—

“Mom.”

Soft as it was, the tiny voice still snapped Leia out of the shadows. It took her a moment to register what had happened, but once she did, her gaze fell on Rey. The girl’s eyes were open and unfocused, one hand reaching desperately out toward Leia. With a jolt, Leia saw that there were tears on Rey’s cheeks—how long had she been awake? “Mom,” the younger woman whimpered again, the utter vulnerability in her voice making Leia’s eyes burn. Without a second thought, the general reached out and wrapped her fingers around Rey’s, running her thumb along the girl’s knuckles. She noted with some displeasure that Rey’s skin was still unusually warm, but it didn’t seem as though her temperature had gone up either.

“Shh, sweetheart, shh….it’s all right,” she whispered. “It’s all right. You’re safe.” With her free hand, Leia reached out and gently stroked Rey’s cheek, watching as the girl visibly relaxed. “I’m here. I’m right here.”

Rey sighed softly, her eyelids fluttering shut, but when Leia tried to draw her hand away, the girl whined in protest and nuzzled further into Leia’s palm. The general blinked in surprise even as warmth spread through her chest, and slowly her lips curved into a small, gentle smile. “That’s my girl,” she breathed, thumb stroking back and forth across Rey’s cheek.

_“If only, if only, the moon speaks no reply_

_Reflecting the sun and all that s gone by_

_Be strong my weary one, turn around boldly._

_Fly high, my baby girl, my angel, my only….”_

Breha Organa’s voice seemed to float across the years, and Leia closed her eyes as memories of her mother’s arms flooded her mind. A dull ache pulsed in her chest, but the pain was familiar and old. That loss, at least, she had learned to live with. Smoothing her thumb over Rey’s cheek again, Leia took a slightly shaky breath and began to sing the lullaby, the song still fresh in her mind as though it had been sung to her, and she had sung it to Ben, only hours before.

_“If only, if only, the moon speaks no reply_

_Reflecting the sun and all that s gone by_

_Be strong my weary one, turn around boldly_

_Fly high, my baby girl, my angel, my only….”_

**Author's Note:**

> The lullaby in this story was borrowed from Louis Sachar's "Holes". I didn't create it, but I did change a few of the words because they refer to earth animals that don't exist in this universe and I was too lazy to find good analogs.


End file.
